Stories

Rocky's Story

What happened to Rocky?

How did a 12cm skewer end up in Rocky’s stomach?

When we rescued him, Rocky, a four-year-old tan and white Staffy cross, was painfully thin. You could see every one of his ribs – every bump of his spine. His hips stuck out, and he had a large wound from an abscess on his side that hadn’t been treated.

It’s clear that his owner shockingly neglected him.

At some point a few weeks earlier, he was so desperately hungry that he was prepared to eat anything.

Even a sharp wooden skewer.

Perhaps it still had a tiny scrap of meat attached. Or maybe it just smelt of the food Rocky longed for.

The pain must have been terrible. Now Rocky wasn’t only hungry, he had a long, sharp object sticking out of his stomach. It’s just lucky the sharp point didn’t pierce his heart or lungs, or Rocky would have died frightened and in pain.

Rocky underwent surgery at RSPCA South Australia. It took an hour and a half to remove the skewer – cutting it free could have caused Rocky to bleed to death. Afterwards, he was closely monitored and given the best care as he recovered.

What would have happened to Rocky without RSPCA South Australia? His abscess would have gotten worse. The skewer would have stayed in his stomach. He probably wouldn’t have survived much longer.